[Long-term results of prevention of dental caries among children using fluoridated milk in city Maikop].

The prevalence of dental caries among preschool and school-age children in Maikop is a consistently high level. The purpose of this study was to examine the state of teeth in children aged 6, 9 and 12 years who drink fluorinated milk during three years they visit kindergartens. The results showed that the irregular production of fluoridated milk due to the economic crisis in the past three years made no possible to achieve adequate antidecay effect in preschool children. Remote prophylactic effect as a result of regular consumption of fluoridated milk registered among children aged 9 and 12 years. It show reducing the decay intensity by 30.9 and 33.2% respectively.

[Milk fluoridization efficacy in a controlled study and dental caries experience dynamics in conditions of wide availability of local F-containing means].

Cross-over, controlled, randomized and triple-blind study of F-milk efficacy and monitoring of F excretion with urine under conditions of wide availability of fluoride containing toothpastes was performed in Voronezh during last 10 years. F-milk project increasingly covered annually from 10 to 15 thousand of pre-school children. From them 335 children (11 kindergarteners -- age 6 years) regularly consuming F-milk during 3 years and 175 children (6 kindergarteners -- age 6 years) of the control group were examined. Statistics of the received data with 2 tail t-test has shown that between dmf (1.59+/-1.82) in children consuming F-milk and dmf (2.58+/-2.67) in children of the control group there is significant difference (p<0.001) with 96% of the statistical power. When implementing F-milk for 10 years running there were collected and analyzed data on caries experience in children 3, 6, 9 and 12 years (2004 vs. 1994). There is considerable reduction of caries incidence in all age groups in 2004, probably due to F containing toothpastes wide use and very active hygienic education of the population in Voronezh. At the same time dmf index in 6 year old children receiving F-milk was by 39% lower than in their contemporaries from the control group. F-intake monitoring in children 3, 4, 5 and 6 years of age has shown that F-milk (daily appr. 0.2 l with the level 2.5 ppm) use is a very effective method of F-deficiency elimination, leaving out any possibility of F-overdosage exceeding its physiologic needs.

The efficiency of semiannual silane fluoride varnish applications: a two-year clinical study in preschool children.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this two-year community demonstration trial was to study the caries inhibitory effects of semiannual applications of a fluoride varnish in preschool children. METHODS: Twenty-four public dental health clinics in the county of Halland, Sweden, with 5,137 preschool children, 4 and 5 years of age, were matched and equally allocated to a fluoride varnish group (n = 2,535) and a reference group (n = 2,602). The children in the fluoride varnish group were treated every six months with topical applications of a silane fluoride varnish, Fluor Protector (0.1% F), while no fluoride varnish was used in the reference group. Both groups received a basic preventive program at annual checkups consisting of dietary counseling and instructions to parents to brush their children's teeth at least once daily with fluoridated dentifrice. Caries data were collected by clinical examinations at baseline and after one and two years. RESULTS: Caries prevalence at baseline did not differ significantly between the groups. After two years, the mean caries incidence was low and no statistical difference was found in the total number of carious and filled surfaces (dfs) between the two groups. However, the incidence of approximal lesions (dfsa) was significantly lower (P < .05) in the fluoride varnish group than the reference group. Children in the fluoride varnish group with dfs scores of 1-4 and > or = 5 at the start of the study exhibited a statistically significant (P < .05) reduction in approximal caries incidence of 19 percent and 25 percent, respectively, when compared with the reference group. CONCLUSION: Preschool children 4 and 5 years of age with clinical caries who receive semiannual applications of a silane fluoride varnish containing 0.1 percent F experience a reduced incidence of approximal caries over two years.

Dental caries-reducing effects of a milk fluoridation project in Bulgaria.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a community-based milk fluoridation project on dental caries. METHODS: Fluoridated milk was provided to about one-half of kindergarten and other schoolchildren in Asenovgrad, a town in the southern part of Bulgaria. The estimated daily milk consumption was 200 ml containing 1 mg of fluoride (approximately 5 ppm F). Cross-sectional samples of 6 1/2-year-olds in Asenovgrad and Panaguriche (a nearby town selected as the reference community) were examined at the start of the study in 1988 and after three years. Additional cross-sectional samples of 7 1/2-year-olds in Asenovgrad who were and were not drinking fluoridated milk were examined at baseline and at three years to provided an internal control group. Samples of 6 1/2 and 8 1/2-year-olds from Asenovgrad and Karlovo were examined in 1993 to provide for five-year follow-up comparisons. RESULTS: In 6 1/2-year-old children who had consumed fluoridated milk for three years, there was a decrease in the mean dmft per child of 40 percent and in the mean DMFT of 89 percent compared to children examined at baseline. Children in Asenovgrad who were 4 1/2 years old at the start of the study and had been drinking fluoridated milk for three years had on average 44 percent fewer dmft and 83 percent fewer DMFT at 7 1/2 years of age than those not drinking fluoridated milk. After five years the dmft index was 40 percent less and the DMFT index 79 percent less in those children who had participated in the full five years of the program compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Results seem to confirm the caries-reducing effects of milk fluoridation found in previous studies. Unexpected large caries reductions obtained in this nonexperimental study, however, probably cannot be attributed to the fluoridation of milk alone. The mere introduction of the project might have led to other changes affecting dental caries, such as improved oral hygiene and better dietary habits.

Effect of an amine fluoride dentifrice on dental caries used in a community-based oral health education program.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the caries-reducing effect of an amine fluoride toothpaste when used under real-life conditions in a community preventive program. METHODS: Approximately 12,500 children 3-12 years of age were provided with toothpaste (four tubes or 360 grams annually during three years) to be used in kindergartens or schools and once a day at home. The teachers supervised daily toothbrushing sessions. Random samples of children in each of the ages 3, 6, 9, and 12 years were selected from the intervention and the reference communities at both the start of the study and after three years, and examined for dental caries experience. RESULTS: Amine fluoride dentifrice seemed to provide a reduction in dental caries prevalence compatible to the most commonly used fluoride dentifrice compounds. CONCLUSIONS: The implemented fluoride toothpaste program is a feasible and practical method of improving the oral health status of children.

Future trends in oral health and disease.

The World Health Report, published annually by the World Health Organization, provides a rich source of information from which trends may be distinguished and planning can be initiated. In terms of oral health, trends in caries prevalence are of particular importance, as are developments in health promotion in general, which touch on life style factors and thus oral health decisions. This paper highlights aspects of the Report in relation to oral health and discusses some of WHO's responses to the global problems associated with improving oral health.